At least four assets belonging to the wealthy and famous Saraki family of Nigeria, all tucked away in secret offshore territories, have been uncovered.

But the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, failed to declare them to the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, as required by law. This revelation, made possible by internal data of the Panama-based offshore-provider, Mossack Fonseca, obtained by the German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), could worsen Saraki’s case as he battles to extricate himself from allegations of corruption.

Last September, the CCB slammed false asset declaration charges on Saraki, accusing him, among other things, of failure to declare his assets in full. Under the code of conduct law, a public office holder is required to declare his own assets, those of his wife as well as assets in the names of his children below the age of 18.

The hidden assets

However, a fresh investigation has uncovered a hidden London property in the name of Toyin Saraki but which was left out among the assets declared by the Senate President. The hidden property is located at #8 Whuttaker Street, Belgravia, London SW1W 8JQ. It has title number NGL802235. The first, Girol Properties Ltd, was registered on August 25, 2004, (a year after Mrs. Saraki’s husband became governor of Kwara State) in the British Virgin Island (BVI). Company documents show that Mrs. Saraki owns 25,000 numbers of shares with a par value of US$ 1,000 each, and was appointed the first and only director of the company. It, however, remains unclear what businesses Mrs Saraki transacted with the company.

Mrs Saraki, however, in a letter to ICIJ, through her lawyers, denied ever owning any shareholding in Girol Properties.

•Extracted from a Vanguard report. Photo shows Senate President Bukola Saraki.

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